


Survive The Night

by EmbryonicHarmonic, RottenAdel



Category: Gundam 00, Zeta Gundam
Genre: M/M, Nightmare Game, multiple AUs, strap the fuck in
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-09
Updated: 2017-06-09
Packaged: 2018-11-11 14:33:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11150409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmbryonicHarmonic/pseuds/EmbryonicHarmonic, https://archiveofourown.org/users/RottenAdel/pseuds/RottenAdel
Summary: Setsuna begins having a weird set of nightmares. Each one feels real, and he wakes repeatedly feeling disoriented and afraid. Slowly, the nightmares begin building. The waking world becomes as muddled as the dream, and Setsuna may not find his way out.Repost, reviving this because some douchecanoe can fuck himself.





	1. Night 1 - Ordinary Vanity

**Author's Note:**

> Reviving this fic, because honestly the dickbag who tanked this the first time can fuck himself. 
> 
> Adel is wonderful and is the whole reason this is returning. She's great.

1 -- Ordinary Vanity

Downtime was not something that Setsuna had often, but here he was, in his apartment on Earth. 

He had fought quite hard to keep it over the four years, and now that Celestial Being had partnered with the AEUG, he found himself here far more often. It was so strange, to have time to himself and not have to worry (too much) about being found out. They had resources, partners, people to rely on. And that was so strange to him, to not be alone in what they were doing anymore. Perhaps stranger now that Kamille was part of his life. Even now, as Setsuna was pretending to be focused on folding laundry, his thoughts kept straying to the others. And mostly Kamille. 

He never did very well when he had any actual downtime. He never knew what to do with himself aside from remote suit maintenance or working out. Or he cleaned. He cleaned everything. Absolutely everything. His apartment was absolutely spotless, save for the laundry he was attempting to properly fold. 

Oh, that was one of Kamille’s shirts. He would have to return it later. 

Setsuna had been knocked from his thoughts by a light tapping on the door, and he forgot about what he was doing to go retrieve what ended up being a handful of mail. Nothing unusual, mostly junk. All his bills had been paid in full. However, there was a large envelope with ‘DO NOT BEND’ printed on it. Unusual. He had not actually ordered anything. Setsuna had problems actually getting things for himself that were not food or clothes. His rare splurges were usually things he was getting for other people. They were usually scarves. Everyone got one eventually. 

To this day, Tieria still did not know how Setsuna had managed to get into his locked quarters to leave it on the desk. Setsuna was not telling, and would merely let a very light smile come to his lips at the question. Everyone else had theories, but the dark-skinned Meister was not telling. 

Still, attention returned to the envelope. Setsuna checked it over. No return address, did not show any signs of tampering or that it would explode in his face. Maybe someone had sent him something as a surprise. Retrieving a knife, he cut open the seal and opened it. Nothing was actively exploding in his face, therefore it was deemed safe. He made a note to not tell anyone that he had reasoned this course of action. There would be yelling. Lots of yelling. 

Yelling still would happen, as he felt the air be outright sucked out of his lungs when he retrieved the contents, staring wide-eyed at several photographs of Lockon, bloodied and bruised to the point that if Setsuna did not know precisely what corpses looked like, one would assume that the Irish man was dead. Setsuna immediately went for his phone, scrolling through the numbers and calling his friend. 

No answer. 

No. No he had to contact Lockon somehow. 

He grabbed his tablet, sending an emergency message to Veda, sending Tieria messages, trying to contact Lockon somehow. Veda returned with an error, his request could not be sent. Was he locked out? And there was no answer from Tieria…

There was another knock at the door. 

Setsuna nearly sprinted across the room, practically leaping in a single bound to open it. There was a bag on his doorstep, and he quickly pulled it inside. Hair. Clumps of purple hair, with large parts of skin where it had been cut away. And at the bottom of the bag was a pair of broken glasses. Tieria’s glasses to be exact. Setsuna felt his stomach roll. Someone had gotten to two Meisters, two of them who should be able to protect themselves. Emergency measures. He had to contact the Ptolemy directly, and he grabbed his phone again, trying to contact Allelujah. There was no way that someone would be able to harm all of them, right? Allelujah was a supersoldier, he had to be able to fight someone off who would…

There was only static in his ear, and he felt his heart stop. 

No, it couldn’t be all of them. He looked at his door, his heart starting to hammer in his chest. Why wasn’t the Ptolemy contacting him? Or the Argama? They needed to know, they had to know, didn’t they? 

But there was another knock at the door. 

He dreaded it. He dreaded what may come to him, but Setsuna had to answer it, maybe see who was behind this. But when he opened the door, there was nothing, only a neatly folded orange flight suit. Setsuna hesitated only briefly, pulling it inside and throwing it across the table, staring wide-eyed at the way it was torn, the amount of blood that was all over it. That was impossible. Allelujah was a stronger fighter than himself. Made to fight, born for it. Who could have done such a thing? Who could have done this? 

And were they coming for him next? Setsuna did not want to think about it, but he had to be prepared. He was the only one who was supposed to be on leave, the only one who should be out and away from the ship. What were the others doing that had let this happen? Had the Ptolemy been attacked? If so, why had no one tried contacting him? Setsuna flicked through his messages, wondering if he had somehow missed an emergency beacon, but there was no record in his logs. Was the crew dead? Why hadn’t the Argama contacted him if something had gone so incredibly wrong? 

There was no choice, he would have to leave his apartment and try to find who was behind this. 

Setsuna did not know where he would start, but he knew he had to. He knew where Lockon left his car, maybe there was some clue there. He’d be able to get to the Ptolemy, or the rendezvous site. It would be quicker if he had any mobile suit, but he could not take the risks right now. He needed to not draw attention to himself any more than he already had. The last thing he needed was someone notifying the police because the Kurdish boy in apartment 1213 had bloody clothes on his doorstep. 

He turned away from the table, phone sliding into his pocket as he wrapped his scarf around his neck and draped it over his shoulders. The Meister moved into his bedroom, for the pistol on his desk. Not the one under the bed, or the one by his pillow. 

But as he turned away from his desk, he spotted the open window. He had closed it, hadn’t he? He couldn’t stand the sounds of the city, especially at night. Too loud. Too much like gunfire in his dreams. Only after he stopped looking did he look down at his bed, to see a bag sitting on it.

Red blood was seeping out of the bottom, staining his sheets. 

Setsuna felt his blood go cold, rooted in the spot for a good thirty seconds. Blood. Something was in there, some severed part of one of his teammates. Too small to be a head, too big to be an ear. He did not want to see, but he stepped closer. Closer. He gripped the pistol tightly in one hand, his other reaching over to pull open the offending package, peering in with eyes large and breath held. 

A hand.

A severed hand. 

Kamille’s. 

Setsuna let out a shocked cry, stumbling backwards with one hand over his mouth. No. No. No no no. He was supposed to be away from this sort of thing. Away from the time where murdering people slowly was a thing. Where debts were paid with blood and with your body. This wasn’t happening. This was not supposed to happen to him anymore. This life was supposed to be far behind him, why was this happening? Why was someone doing this? Why? Why? Setsuna couldn’t properly form words, his body starting to shake as a wave of nausea rolled over him. This was not supposed to be his life anymore. Was it someone from his dark, bloodied past who had found out about Kamille? About the Meisters? Ali al-Saachez could not overpower them all, could he? That madman had not found them, had he--

The phone in his pocket buzzed once. Twice. Ringing. 

He nearly ripped it from his pocket. Unknown number. Better than nothing. He hoped, had to hope, that they weren’t dead… 

“Hello, Setsuna F. Seiei.” 

The voice was heavily altered, he could tell. It was far too robotic to be a person. Someone was actively filtering their voice, all to keep him more in the dark. But the anxiety was eating at him. Someone was behind this. 

“Who is this?” Setsuna forced himself to at least sound calm. “What have you done with the others?” 

There was a laugh. A deep one. Setsuna felt dirty listening to it. 

“They’re alive, for now. But if you do not cooperate, they won’t be for long.” 

Muffled sounds in the background. Tieria? Setsuna wasn’t entirely sure. He heard them, trying to count the number of people from the noises, but it was too difficult. It wasn’t like they were walking. He could always tell who was walking by their footfalls. 

“Prove it. Let me speak to them.” Setsuna was firm. He knew how this game was played. He had been taught well, or been taught poorly. He knew how this went. Confirm the hostages were alive, speak to them, keep whoever it was on the phone for as long as possible. That was how the game was played. 

For him at least. 

There was that laugh again, followed by the sound of shuffling bodies. He heard Tieria distinctly. Neil. But it was Kamille who was put on the phone. Whoever was behind this, they were smart. Pick the person who would draw the biggest emotional response. And that was Kamille. Setsuna held his breath, afraid of what he was going to hear. 

“S… Setsuna?” Kamille’s voice. Weak from bloodloss. Badly injured, probably more than just his hand. 

“Kamille!” Emotional response. Mistake number one. “Kamille, hold on. I will find you, and I will make them regret harming you. All of you.” 

There was little response, Kamille trying to shout something only to be pulled away. The robotic voice returned, and Setsuna felt his skin crawl. This was not Ali. Ali would not invoke such a vile response from him. 

“That’s enough for now. You have a choice, Setsuna F. Seiei. You can either let them die, and I assure you that they will, or you can come meet us and surrender the 00 Gundam.”

If Setsuna had not been feeling sick before, he was now. To give up the one thing he could honestly use to change the world, or let everyone he cared about perish? There was no good answer, but only one of them was the right answer. And maybe one day Setsuna would be able to properly forgive himself for it. Maybe the 00 would be able to forgive himself for it one day as well. He swallowed hard, closing his eyes. 

“Where am I meeting you?”

\--------  
Shipping yards. 

Setsuna knew them well enough, especially ones at the base of an Orbital Elevator. He had to get the then-broken Exia to and from Earth somehow, and there had been no end of nightmares to get her through customs, but he had done it more than once. This was different. This was willingly giving up the one machine that he had a chance to really change the world with in order to rescue the people that actually mattered in his life. They could build more Gundams, but the 00 was special. And… they could not just build more Meisters. Not now, and not at this point in the game. Setsuna still was not entirely sure how everything had fallen into place. There had been no answer from the Ptolemy, or the Argama… 

He hoped he was doing the right thing, wandering through the rows of massive crates to the correct location, clipboard with his paperwork in-hand. His heart hammered in his chest so loudly he could hear it. Setsuna was not a religious man, but right now he was willing to pray to anyone that would listen that he was doing the right thing. 

“Over here.”

He stopped dead, turning to his left. Between two containers, there was a man with a mask covering half of his face, and two armed guards. The other Meisters and Kamille were there, none of them looking good. They were alive, for now. Setsuna felt his insides twist into knots, stepping forwards until he was told to stop. 

“Where is your Gundam?” The man asked, arms tucked behind him. 

Setsuna tossed the clipboard over. “Container 1108, ready to be transported.” 

His eyes flicked to the hostages. Lockon - barely alive, but he was alive. Tieria - head more or less mangled, cuts across what was left of his scalp, but alive. Powered by outright anger, really. That was a good thing. Allelujah - also injured, but alive. Kamille…

...Alive. Pale, out of it, but alive. Setsuna hoped that things stayed this way. 

Then there was the click of a gun. 

“I didn’t think you would actually bring it. Well, I have no need for them now.” The man turned to his guards, waving one hand. “Kill them all.” 

Unfortunately, this man did not realize who he was dealing with. Setsuna had counted on this possibility, and he had planned for it. 

Setsuna surged forwards, knife coming from his sleeve. He buried it in the nearest guard’s eye, twisting. His gun was taken, the other guard shot before he could move. Setsuna kicked the keys to Tieria, who started immediately to free himself and the others. The man grabbed for Kamille, dragging the half-dead young man to his feet, a small pistol jammed against his head. 

“Get back!”

Fear. 

Someone did not plan for this. 

Mistakes had been made.

Setsuna was burning with outright fury, gun raised at the man’s head. No bargaining, no mercy. Not after someone had hurt his family, and the one person he had let into his already screwed up emotional state. No, there would be no escaping from this. He had been taught to be a brutal, merciless person, and now was the exact time to be that sort of person. The worst type of person. Therefor, he did not hesitate, one round going right between the man’s eye. Kamille was freed, dropping to his knees in a half-awake and weakened state. 

The dark-haired Meister was at his side immediately, starting to help him up. He glanced at the others. Allelujah was on his feet, looking only slightly better, and Tieria was helping Neil to his feet. He had Kamille, there was nothing left for him to do but retrieve the 00 and leave. 

Beep. 

No. 

Beep. 

Setsuna turned, looking over at the corpse of the man. He handed Kamille off to Allelujah, moving over to the body, pulling at his clothes to discover that he was absolutely wired with C4. Not good. 

“Get out of here, all of you!” It was an order. One that they would not argue with. 

Setsuna grabbed the body, dragging him out of the little space between the containers. An empty container, that was good enough. Not as good as a bunker, but they were a little fresh out of them. He did not have time. Damn. Why didn’t he try looking harder? For a killswitch. For anything! There was no time to yell at himself, to berate himself further. He just had to hope that the others were going to be far enough away. With a great burst of effort, he threw the body into the open container, slamming the door shut. He couldn’t see the others. But he ran, shouting to the workers to run, that one of the containers had a bomb in it. There was scrambling, shouting for containment procedures. 

It happened too great to process, a deafening explosion. 

Fire and debris shot from the container, a large piece of siding clipping Setsuna in the leg. The bone shattered, and he instantly went down, rolling a few paces as the air grew thick with smoke and fire. His ears were ringing, and everything seemed to go in slow motion. He tried to get to his knees, to try to pull away, drag himself somewhere safe. If he could get back to the 00, he would be able to get out. Where were the others? Did they make it to safety? 

Someone grabbed him, voice muddled. Kamille? When did Kamille come back? Setsuna’s world was spinning, being pulled to his feet and half-dragged from the maze of containers. He couldn’t walk, hobbling along as fast as he would go before he fell, trying to get back up but he could not. 

Another hand grabbed him, and a third. Fourth. He was hauled up onto something cold, metal. People were shouting, and he felt the machine lift off the ground. Too much. Too much to focus… 

He lost consciousness. 

\------

Setsuna’s eyes snapped open and he shot upright, only to immediately regret this action, falling back onto the---

\--medbay cot? 

A second look around the room confirmed that he indeed was in the Ptolemy’s medbay. When did he get here? Wasn’t he on Earth? Did they make it back to the Ptolemy? Why hadn’t they gotten help? 

With a greater sense of caution, Setsuna groaned and propped himself up on his elbows, looking himself over. He remembered the piece of the container clipping his leg. He knew it had been shattered, he’d probably be grounded for weeks, maybe months, until it healed and…

There was no cast on his leg. In fact, his legs were both fine. The pain was there, the pain was there and it was incredible, but they weren’t broken. He wasn’t broken? He wasn’t injured? What had happened to him? He was sure that there had been a serious hostage situation. That the others had been gravely injured! 

“Setsuna!”

Kamille’s voice caused him to look up, seeing the blue-haired young man in the doorway, Lockon not far behind him. Setsuna blinked in confusion, Kamille coming over to his bedside, a worried look on his face. 

“How are you feeling?” He asked, looking over the dark-haired Meister as if expecting some sort of terrible answer. 

“I’m sore, and confused. What happened?” Setsuna was sure he needed answers, and Lockon and Kamille were definitely the ones who would be willing to share information with him. He needed to know, and they were around when a medic was not. 

Lockon was the one who stepped up, reaching over to fluff Setsuna’s hair. 

“You blacked out in the hangar. Just completely clocked out in the middle of walking to what’s left of the Exia. Don’t you remember?” 

Setsuna shook his head. He had been somewhere else. On Earth. In his apartment. He looked himself over again. No broken bones. Kamille had both arms. Lockon did not look like he had been tortured to death. He could assume that Tieria still had his hair, and Allelujah had not been beaten within an inch of his life. With a sigh, Setsuna brought a hand up to rub his eyes. Maybe he needed some more rest. Repairs could wait. 

“Guess it was just a nightmare.”


	2. Forsaken Lullaby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second night has come, and Setsuna is... not at home. What he sees he can't prevent, and will never be able to undo.

Setsuna was not entirely sure when he had last seen clouds gathering for a storm, but he looked at the sky with such a sense of peace in his mind. 

Why he had been sent here, of all places, he didn’t know. The land was so vibrant, colors so vivid compared to the lands he had grown up in, the sprawling cities and the emptiness of space. He was not used to it, and for once, he felt at peace. His mission was briefly ignored as he wandered down the street towards town. The people he passed barely gave him a second glance, no one in much of a hurry to go anywhere it seemed. Everything was… quiet. 

Setsuna was in no hurry, his mission was recon, to do nothing more than observe. Surely Celestial Being would understand if he took a leisurely pace. He was going to just enjoy himself… it wasn’t something he did often, but he wasn’t often in a place where he felt safe. Even when he was sent on recon in his homeland, it felt different. This was what he probably would have once called a paradise. Adjusting his scarf, he continued onwards, a few people nodding a greeting now and then. He looked out of place, such dark skin and hair, such strange clothes. Again, he wondered why this was sent here. Neil would have blended in so much better, but Veda’s orders were… well, orders. 

The flow of people seemed to get thicker as he got closer to the city proper, more people coming and going, and Setsuna weaving around them easily. Something - or rather, someone - caught his eye. He wasn’t the only one out of place it seemed. 

A child, maybe 8 or 9, with dark skin and dark hair, wearing the same clothes of his homeland and looking so very lost. 

What were the odds of finding someone from his home in a place like this? Setsuna didn’t know, but he was not about to let someone he could know, someone he could help, be lost among the crowd. 

_[Are you lost?]_ It had been so long since Setsuna had been able to speak Arabic so freely. The only person on the Ptolemy who understood him was Tieria, and he had gotten in trouble in the past for solely speaking it. This was the last place that he had expected to be able to speak it. He kneeled down before the child, making sure that they weren’t going to get run over by the crowd. 

The child seemed just as surprised as Setsuna, gripping tighter to his backpack and nodding. It seemed that they were both a long way from home, and in a strange place to be. 

_[I lost my family. We were supposed to go to the park.]_ The youth confessed, looking only a little more relieved when Setsuna appeared, that maybe he wasn’t alone. And the Meister understood, offering his hand. 

_[I’m headed into the city, I can help you find them.]_ It was the least he could do. 

The child nodded, and it would be no good to simply leave him. Without any effort, Setsuna picked up his new companion, carrying him through the crowd of people. He noticed the looks he was starting to get, the look of mistrust. Paranoia. Setsuna had seen it before in his own country, the way people looked at a boy like him. A Krugis boy. A failure, a monster, a violent sort of beast. And the more he thought of it, the more those words made sense. Right now, however, there was nothing that made him need to embody that, he had someone to take care of. He would worry about his own past later. There were more important things than his own sort of vicious self-loathing. 

Setsuna continued to walk, making sure to keep an eye out for anyone who seemed just as out of place as himself. The whispers he heard, people who did not approve of them. 

_Foreigner_

_Dangerous_

_Stranger_

It was everything he’d heard before, words that he was currently ignoring. He was not going to let them seep in, not when there was something more important to do. Why had Veda sent him? He didn’t know. 

The park was in view, and Setsuna had never really seen somewhere so peaceful. It almost hurt, seeing families together, parents and children happy together. He had never had the luxury, not that he could remember. The time he had before the war… the memories were hazy. He could not remember seeing his parents smile. There had only been fear. He shook the memories from his mind, starting to walk into the park proper, trying to give the families a rather wide berth. The last thing he needed was for more people to assume he was suspicious. Or, moreso than they already did. He could see the looks, and it was better for him to worry about it instead of anyone else. 

_[There!]_ The child pointed, and Setsuna turned. There they were, an elder man and a group of children, all who looked like they were from his homeland. Like children on a field trip, backpacks and bright smiles. 

Something rolled in his stomach, the feeling that started to pull the peace he was feeling apart. 

Setsuna walked over, setting the child down to join the rest of the group. Seeing children smile was something so strange, and they all seemed so grateful to have their lost member with them. The elderly man thanked the Gundam Meister, and Setsuna stepped back. He had work he needed to keep doing, but something started to grow in the back of his mind. Doubt? Doubt and fear, it was. Maybe it had been his childhood in combat, knowing that if something was out of place, it likely meant something was going to go wrong. 

A boy pushed past him - curly hair, green eyes - shouting a hasty “Sorry!” and followed by his family, a mother and a young daughter. There was something familiar, Setsuna couldn’t place it. 

“Can we get ice cream?” 

Passing conversation.

“When Neil gets back, we will.” 

_Neil?_

Coincidence, it had to be. 

Neil was a common enough name, wasn’t it? Setsuna tried to shake off this strange feeling, watching the family continue into the little building in the center of the park. A rest area, maybe? He wasn’t sure. The others, the children from his homeland, were lining up along the side of the building, and the air was soon filled with the sound of song, a hymn from his home. He hadn’t heard it in a long time, but it did not fill him with any sort of comfort. Something just felt wrong, and he couldn’t put a finger on it. 

He moved away from the main crowd, seeing people file in so they could watch the little display. That bad feeling in him grew. Something was wrong. He knew this tactic. Setsuna looked around, starting to pull away from the people and scan the crowd. There was someone behind this, there was someone giving the orders. 

Red hair. 

Tattoo. 

Setsuna felt the color drain from his face. He couldn’t stop himself, taking off at a run across the grass. He had to stop this. He _could_ stop it! No one had to die today! 

_[Stop!]_

Ali had seen him, and there was only a smirk and the click of a button. 

The sky lit up with fire, and Setsuna’s ears were ringing. The park was burning, debris flying everywhere. All of the children… why didn’t he see it sooner? Explosives in their backpacks. It was a coordinated attack and he had walked right into it. The building was half-collapsed and on fire, but there had to be a chance that people were alive still. That family he’d seen before, maybe someone was still alive. Pulling his scarf up over his mouth and nose, he raced into the blaze. 

There was smoke stinging his eyes and fallen, burning debris, but he pushed in. He heard someone, the daughter from earlier, crying. He could still save her, couldn’t he? He could save her. He could change this! Setsuna found her under the body of her mother, crushed and burned by debris, but she was alive. He braced his shoulder under the burning beam, heat searing into his shoulder as he managed to throw it off, gathering the young girl in his arms. She was alive, injured but alive. 

Setsuna wasted no time, running through the fire and over fallen boards to get out. There wasn’t enough time to dawdle, the entire roof was coming down. He burst out of the inferno, his eyes stinging and his throat thick with smoke. He managed to stumble to his knees, the world spinning as the girl was taken from his arms, the sirens of an ambulance and firefighters coming near. He struggled to regain his breathing, coughing. With a moment of clarity, one hand reached out, grabbing the young boy who tried running past him towards the fire. 

“Don’t!” Setsuna ordered, pulling himself to his feet. “You can’t go in there!” 

“Let go of him!” 

Another voice, from the crowd, and Setsuna looked up just in time to be punched in the face. The blow knocked him back, letting go of--

_Neil_

\--the boy. The crowd. The crowd wanted blood. They had seen a foreigner reunite the group who had just destroyed their safety and peace, and would not listen to any sense of justice. 

“He’s one of them!”

“He gave them orders!”

“He lead them here!”

Someone grabbed his arm, pulling him back. Then another. His arms were wrenched behind his back, his scarf torn away. They wanted him to pay. Someone grabbed a handful of his hair, forcing Setsuna to his knees just in time for a boot to kick him right in the stomach. He gasped, trying to suck air back into his lungs before he got hit again. It didn’t work. Another kick. A third. Fourth. People were shouting in a language that he didn’t understand, and with another blow to the face, his lip split and blood started to dribble down his chin. 

A belt was looped around his neck, pulled tight. Setsuna struggled, trying to pull himself free. He was going to die if he didn’t free himself. He could. He could do it. Setsuna tried to get his feet underneath him, trying to get his arms free, anything to get himself some sort of advantage. With a grunt of effort, he forced himself up to his feet, and he twisted around, freeing his arms. Hands grabbed for him. Keep him down. Tie him up. Kill him. Kill him. 

Setsuna’s hand looped around the length of the belt and pulled. It was enough, and he ran. He ripped the belt off his neck and threw it, running as far and away from the crowd as he could. 

The city and the crowds started to fade, the grass under his feet bleeding away to dirt and dust. No more buildings, only ruins. But Setsuna didn’t stop running, even when smaller hands tried grabbing at him. Children. Other boys and girls he used to fight with. Other child soldiers he had murdered. His other victims, the ones from his past. He had to get away. Had to keep running. Had to just… be as far as possible. 

He pulled himself onto a fallen wall, moving nimbly over the broken debris until he was out of reach. He was needed to find a way out, to get home. How did he get here? He had been in a different land, a strange place… he’d… he’d been…

“Soran.”

He knew that voice, whipping around to see her… his mother. Setsuna froze in shock, eyes wide and staring as she reaches out. He felt her hands on his face for the first time in thirteen years. And her voice… he’d never heard her like this, to sound so sad. 

Then her hands closed around his throat and he could not breathe. 

Murderer. Monster. Liar. Killer. You killed all of us. You destroyed us. He could hear her words louder, joined by the voices of all the children, of the people his actions have killed, of all the terrible things that he had done. He felt the ground disappear under his feet, hanging over the void as his mother’s words filled his head, as everything started to grow darker and darker. She was right, he was all of those horrible things. He could never hope for her forgiveness. He couldn’t do this. 

_...una…_

That wasn’t his mother… 

_...Se… na…_

Kamille? 

Darkness was starting to envelop him, but he reached, trying to reach for anything, anyone. 

“KAMILLE!”

The grip around his throat disappeared, and he started falling. Deeper, deeper into nothingness, farther and farther away until…

_”SETSUNA!”_

His eyes snapped open, finding himself on the floor of his quarters, with Kamille over him. Blankets tangled around his legs, soaked in sweat. Kamille gathered the other man in his arms, working to free him from the blankets, and just hold him for a while. 

“You were screaming in your sleep.” Kamille said, and Setsuna managed to wrap his arms around the other pilot. He was awake now, he was going to be okay.

He was okay.


	3. Shot Down In Flames

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The night on the Ptolemy is more than just a night. Also, killer Haros.

Quiet nights on the Ptolemy were a blessing. 

Setsuna had been able to spend it mostly in his room, resting. Or, as it was known to everyone who was not Setsuna: running diagnostics on the Exia. He had a tablet that was lying on the bed next to him as he dozed in and out, opening his eye now and then when he heard the beep of tests being finished. 

But by the time the fourth test finished, Setsuna realized that no one had really come by for the past few hours. With a grunt, he pushed himself off his bed with a yawn. Maybe Lockon was right and he actually needed to rest more often. Right now, he stretched his arms and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Picking up the tablet, Setsuna stepped out of his room and made his way to the hangar. Maybe he’d see someone else up at this hour. Actually, he’d have to check and see where Kamille was. Normally he was trying to get Setsuna to go to bed at this point. Did he get transferred back to the Argama? 

Seeing the Zeta in the hangar answered that question. 

Setsuna checked the time. At least it explained why he was only seeing the Haros floating around. Well, the Exia looked good, or so Setsuna declared when he decided to poke into her cockpit and check the systems once more. Apparently he couldn’t be too careful when he was working with her. He’d have to do the Zeta next. 

“Tieria! Tieria!”

The tell-tale call of the Haros caused him to carefully float out of the Exia, grasping at the railing and grounding his feet on the walkway. He could hear the footsteps, a small smile coming to his lips when he saw the purple-haired Meister step into the hangar. 

“Enjoying the silence too? Or tired of it?” He asked, moving to greet his teammate. Setsuna was someone who liked the peace, but left for too long without something to do and he never really had an idea of how to handle it. He’d get fidgety and then he ran two dozen tests on every mobile suit near him. Tieria didn’t exactly look pleased, though that could be his default expression. Setsuna had gotten pretty good at telling the difference, most of the time. 

Tiera glanced at the nearest Haro unit with a cold expression before turning it on Setsuna. “I need to talk to you. It’s urgent.”

“Urgent?” That never was good. But why hadn’t Tieria just messaged him in his terminal? Setsuna wondered as Tieria motioned to follow him. Apparently he didn’t want to speak where there were Haros around. Hard to do, there were twenty-eight on the Ptolemy alone. And one on the Argama, most of the time. Kamille sometimes brought Haro over. Where was Kamille anyways? 

Tieria didn’t say anything as they left the hangar, obviously trying to find somewhere that they could speak in private. Privacy on a spaceship was not easy, Setsuna knew that. The amount of times he had spent trying to find somewhere that no one could find him was best measured in days. This had to be something extremely important if Tieria needed to find some privacy. Fortunately, Setsuna knew the best places. 

“Scanning! Scanning!” 

Setsuna ducked instinctively, a Haro fluttering above them and down the hall. Odd? Setsuna shrugged his shoulders, picking up his pace so he could keep up with the Innovade. Tieria finally stopped, punching a code into a lock panel. 

“Have you heard from the others?” He asked, glancing over at Setsuna. 

The dark-haired young man paused, glancing down at the tablet that was still in his hand. Aside from the diagnostics, he had gotten one message in the past few hours, and had not seen anyone else for a good while. 

Setsuna shook his head. “No. Kamille messaged me a few hours ago, but I have not seen anyone. I had been trying to rest.” 

Tieria frowned in response. 

“I have not seen any crew member since 1300 hours.” 

That made him bite the corner of his lip, and Setsuna shifted his weight. He had seen the Exia and the Zeta in the hangar, but he had not looked for the others. Had they been there, or had they sortied without being told? There wasn’t anything in his logs about it. That meant that there was something wrong. He was starting to actually hear how silent the ship was, and it made him uncomfortable. 

“The Zeta is in the hangar, that means Kamille at least should be on the ship. I’ll head to the bridge and see if I can find anyone.” Setsuna said, starting towards the door when Tieria stopped him, grabbing his arm. 

“There’s something else.”

Nothing good came from that, and Setsuna felt his stomach roll. Tieria lead him from the glorified broom closet and down the hall, stopping at one of the doors to another storage room. There was another Haro unit floating around, and Tieria gave it a bitter glare as it floated near them, eyes blinking. Why was Tieria stopping here, at this room? There hadn’t been much in there except spare circuitry and repair tools. Setsuna had been in there frequently. Tieria tried punching in his code, only to hear the beep of it being rejected. This seemed to confuse the Innovade, and he tried again, only to be rejected. 

“Try your code.” It was not a request. 

Setsuna moved to the keypad, ignoring the Haro and punching in his code, expecting to be rejected. To his surprise, it was accepted, and the door opened, only for the smell of decomposition to hit him and he nearly doubled over, hand clapped over his mouth to keep from vomiting. Tieria was equally shocked, letting out a startled gasp and stepping back from the room. When he recovered, Setsuna finally saw why. 

There was a destroyed ceiling panel, blood, hanging wires and the twisted, nearly-mutilated corpse of one Allelujah Haptism. 

Setsuna stumbled away from the room, eyes wide in shock. His mind started whirling at about a thousand miles an hour, trying to think about what to do, how to find the others. He had to find them, they had to. Something was wrong on the ship. 

“Get on the coms, radio across the ship.” He struggled to keep a level head, forcing himself to tear his eyes away from Allelujah’s body. Tieria tried, but only static and silence answered them. 

That was not comforting. 

“Can you scan the ship from Veda? Can we find the others that way?” 

Tieria tried, his eyes gleaming gold briefly only for him to flinch and recoil. “I cannot. I will check the crew quarters, you go to the bridge and see what you can find.”

Setsuna didn’t have a chance to question him, but he did catch Tieria mutter something about altering Veda access before the purple-haired Meister moved on. He’d have to ask once they got to the bottom of this, hopefully without more casualties. He grasped one of the lead rails, moving through the halls and towards the bridge, passing another blinking Haro unit. Strange. Touching his feet down, Setsuna moved onto the bridge, reeling as he found it empty. 

No time, he had to find the others. 

He moved to Sumeragi’s terminal, his biometrics accepted and the crew list accessed. Lockon. Kamille. Tieria. Himself. The others - the rest of the crew - was listed as out of range. Why? Sumeragi hadn’t mentioned going to the surface. But if Neil was still here, why was his suit no longer in the hangar? Setsuna opened the com straight to Tieria. 

“Tieria, Lockon and Kamille should still be on the ship, I’ll try to find them.” 

Static.

He tried again, opening the shipwide coms. 

“Lockon, Kamille, come in.”

Static. 

Silence.

Before he can try to call them again, Lockon’s vital signs started flickering, and alarms started to blare. Heart rate going up. Danger. Danger. Danger. There were muffled, garbled noises going over the coms, nothing that Setsuna could make out.

“Lockon--!” 

And then nothing, just the dull, horrid beep that signalled a dead pilot. 

Setsuna didn’t wait, nearly vaulting himself from the room and towards the crew quarters. He heard a loud, horrific cry of anguish - Tieria - and it only made him try to move faster. He didn’t want it to be true, he couldn’t believe it. Lockon… Lockon couldn’t be dead. He couldn’t! Setsuna felt his heart rate rise, shaking as he stopped in the doorway and the color drained from his face.

Tieria was on his knees, sobbing with Lockon in his arms. Frayed wires were tangled around his neck and arms, with three holes in his chest. The orange Haro floated over them, flapping lazily.

His stomach rolled. 

“Tieria… we have to find Kamille, and get off this ship.” Setsuna moved forwards, reaching out and taking Tieria’s hand only to be slapped away. 

There was no moving him right now. 

“Kamille, danger! Kamille, danger!” Haro suddenly yelled, and Setsuna felt his blood go cold. 

He couldn’t worry about Tieria right now. He turned immediately, hearing a shout come from down the hall. His quarters. Setsuna rushed as fast as he could, stopping at the locked door. He could hear it from the hall, the sounds of a struggle, choking and strangling. He punched the override code into the door, no chance in risking getting rejected. He needed to rescue Kamille. He had to do something! He would not let this happen! 

Forcing the door open, he barely had a moment to stare in horror. Kamille was on the ground, trying to pull against the wires that came from the ceiling, wrapped around his neck and arms. His Haro unit was nearby, eyes blinking and wires further wrapped around the blue-haired pilot. Setsuna moved without really thinking grabbing up a pair of wire clippers from Kamille’s desk, grabbing the wires. He was risking electrocution, but he refused to let Kamille die. He couldn’t save Lockon, he was damned if he was going to let history repeat. Electricity shocked through him, Setsuna trying to force his way through it. He managed to cut Kamille down, gathering the other pilot up in his arms and pulling the wires off of him, his own limbs numb and spots blinking in his vision. 

“Little bro no! Little bro no!” The orange Haro flapped in. 

“Big brother helped! Big brother helped!” The green Haro replied.

Setsuna didn’t wait, gathering Kamille up and helping him out of the room. The other pilot seemed rattled, understandably so, but he wasn’t dead. Setsuna had to be grateful for small miracles, and that was all he could do right now. He wanted to kiss him. He wanted to hug Kamille close and not let go, but this was not the time. 

“What’s going on, Setsuna? I got locked in my room and then my own Haro attacked me!” Kamille apparently responded to near-death experiences with anger, and Setsuna couldn’t exactly blame him right now. 

“I think what happened to you…” There was no good way to say this. “Lockon and Allelujah are dead. I think what happened to you also happened to them.”

The look of horror on Kamille’s face was answer enough. They had gotten lucky, Setsuna had been able to save him. Keeping a hold on Kamille’s hand, they moved back down the hall, following the sounds of Tieria’s horrific sobbing. They had to stick together, all of them. Did something worse happen to the crew? Setsuna found himself hoping that he was wrong, that the others were safe.

He could hear the Haro units, all of them starting to chant. 

“Danger, Tieria! Danger, Tieria!” 

He looked at Kamille, and the two ran down the hall, starting to move faster in the hopes that they were not about to see another one of them die. Punching in the override code, Setsuna and Kamille forced the door open, greeted with the sight of Tieria slumped over. Hair in his face. Blood on his clothes. What was worse was his laugh, like two distorted voices laughing at once. Setsuna felt his heart stop, eyes widening.

“Tieria?” He took a step forwards. “Tieria, are you okay?”

“You pathetic humans…” 

He knew that voice. Setsuna wished he didn’t, but he did, and that step forwards instantly became a step back. Tieria slowly rose to his feet, his eyes glowing brightly, his lips twisted in a horrific smile despite the tears sliding down his cheeks. Laughing and crying in one sweep. It wasn’t Tieria. Tieria’s body, but he was not in control.

“If I knew it was this easy, I would have done this a long time ago.” 

Kamille grabbed his shoulder, pulling him back. 

“That body isn’t yours! Let him go!” Kamille shouted angrily, his eyes glaring at the possessed Innovade. Setsuna could feel it faintly, the pressure being exerted from the powerful Newtype. 

Tieria - no, Ribbons - laughed, reaching into his waistband and revealing a pistol. 

“This body is barely his. You should hear him, begging and pleading for me to stop. It’s pathetic. Oh, you should have seen him, the horror on his face when he pulled the trigger on the super soldier!”

Setsuna’s breath caught in his throat. Pulled the trigger. It hadn’t just been the Haros. It was Tieria, possessed and not in control, being used and manipulated by Ribbons from his lofty tower. That was why he had lost access to Veda, why his codes didn’t work. 

“You… You killed them.” Setsuna said in a firm, low voice, tension rippling through him. 

The gun was raised at the two of them, and Kamille stepped back, alongside Setsuna. 

“With those toys taking care of the crew, you two are the only ones standing in my way. And I intend to finish the job.” Ribbons spoke through Tieria’s lips, and they twisted into a horrific grin. 

But both of them see it, the way the pistol shook a little. Tieria was fighting for control. Setsuna glanced at Kamille out of the corner of his eye before lunging forwards. The wire clippers in hand, he stabbed the end deep into Tieria’s arm, hearing the twisted voices scream in pain. The gun hit the floor, and the Innovade’s other hand snapped out, fingers curling into Setsuna’s hair and his knee snapping up into his ribs. The air was forced out of his lungs, and his knees wobbled, trying to keep himself upright. 

“You think that will stop me? I don’t feel the pain that this body does.” 

Before a second blow came, Kamille swept in. He had no qualms about hurting Tieria, not right now. Bodies could heal, there was a greater concern. Survival. He would apologize later, right now his fist bashed right into the Innovade’s face. He let go of Setsuna, and Kamille grabbed him by the arm, getting him to his feet and nearly dragging him out of the room. There was only one safe place they could be - not on the ship. 

“The Zeta and the Exia are still in the hangar, we can launch and contact the Argama.” Kamille said, helping Setsuna along until he could actually get to his feet right and breathe again. At least they had the same idea. 

He could hear the Haros, shouting about Ribbons, about the danger. Setsuna’s stomach turned. He could hear Ribbons-Tieria’s hollow, horrific laugh ringing through the ship. He moved faster, trying to get through the door as there was the metallic ping of a bullet rocketing off the side of the hallway. They were out of time, and the second shot caught Kamille right in the leg. Setsuna would not let this happen, not lose another friend. He dragged Kamille into the hangar, punching the panel to close the door, hopefully locking it. 

“I’ll get you to the Zeta, you have to launch first.” Setsuna insisted, looking at the injury. There wasn’t much to do but bandage it and hope for the best. 

Kamille nodded, even if he didn’t like the idea of launching first. The maintenance Haros were still floating around, shouting about how neither of them had clearance. Would they prevent the launch? Setsuna hoped not, helping Kamille into his pilot suit first, and throwing his on immediately after. They were going to get off this ship. Find the Argama, or even the Radish, anything that wasn’t this. He helped Kamille up to the Zeta before his feet hit the walkway and he turned to rush for the Exia.

Then the power cut out, and everything went dark. 

“Let go of me!”

Kamille!

He whipped around, trying to see as the emergency lights started to flicker. Someone was by the Zeta. Did Tieria find them already? Someone was pulling at Kamille. He rushed back towards the Zeta, heart hammering in his chest. He couldn’t let this happen. He had already failed Allelujah and Neil, he would not fail Kamille too!

“Kamille!” 

His fists were ready, and he would be ready to beat someone to death if it came to it. Even if that person wore Tieria’s face, he really hoped the other Meister would forgive him. 

A shot tore through his shoulder, and he instantly grasped the railing to keep from falling over. Another tore through his side. Two shots… Just like home, he could survive this, he could do this. He refused to let himself die here. That horrid, sinister laugh echoed through the hangar. They had run out of time… 

“Do you really think you can win, Setsuna F. Seiei? Look at you, injured and weak, and helpless. I could kill you right here, or murder your last teammate right in front of you.” Ribbons taunted, tapping the pistol against Kamille’s cheek, causing the other pilot to struggle uselessly. 

Setsuna gripped his shoulder, shuddering. He could do this, he could save Kamille and get off this ship. He needed to switch, to stop being a Meister and return to being a monster, to being that horrid creature that survived the Krugis Civil War. Changing his mindset from Meister to monster was horrifically easy, and it almost sickened him how terribly natural it felt. 

“If I must tear you apart, I will.” Setsuna said in a low voice. 

He rushed forwards, sliding under the gun and bringing his knee up right into Tieria’s ribcage. It was enough, sending the Innovade sprawling, freeing Kamille. For a moment, something changed. Tieria wasn’t getting up, and started sobbing to someone that none of them could see. Arguing with Ribbons… it was enough right now. Setsuna grabbed the gun, pulling Kamille closer while adrenaline still surged through him, each movement painful. 

“We have to launch.”

“Setsuna, you’re--”

“We have to launch now. Get in the Zeta, contact the Argama. We have to get away from here.” Setsuna urged, and Kamille nodded once in response. 

He nudged Kamille, sending him floating towards the Zeta and turning towards Tieria. He kept the pistol trained on him, foot planting on his chest. He couldn’t take chances, the pain starting to surge with each action. No, he was not going to pass out, he refused. He had to keep the coast clear for Kamille to launch! Tieria gasped, grabbing his foot. 

“N-No, the suits!” That got his attention, and Setsuna felt the hair on his neck stand up. “He’s in Veda, Setsuna! Let me stop him!”

Veda. 

The Zeta wasn’t connected to Veda, but the Exia was. So were the other suits… where were the other suits? 

“Setsuna, please!” 

The pain in Tieria’s voice was enough to make him listen. Anger, guild…what happened to the others… and knowing that he caused it…

“Tell me how to stop him.” Setsuna said in a cold voice, biting his lip to keep himself upright and focused. 

“Let me go to Veda.”

His stomach rolls. 

“I can sever his connection, kick him out… I can save us!”

Setsuna looked at Kamille, and at his own injuries. Neither of them liked the sound of it, neither of them wanted to admit this was probably their best option. But Kamille nodded, and Setsuna stepped off of Tieria, letting him up. He never thought he would be like this, forcing his teammate down the hall at gunpoint, his wounds starting to burn outright with the pain. He couldn’t be a teammate right now, keeping a gun trained on the other and making sure that Tieria did not start to lose it again. 

They were halfway down the hall towards Veda when Tieria suddenly stopped, and Setsuna felt nausea roll over him. 

“The Haros---”

He’d left the Haros in the hangar, with Kamille. 

His first instinct tells him to run, and he turns towards the hangar, nearly running towards it. But he couldn’t… 

“Get to Veda, stop this.” It was an order, something that he could not afford to give but he needed to hope. Setsuna didn’t wait for an answer, sprinting back to the hangar. He stumbled, hitting the wall of the hallway and leaving a red smear. No matter how he tried to run, and no matter how fast he ran, the hallway seemed to get longer, to be stretching out longer than he could run. 

He kept running, pushing himself even though he stumbled and nearly fell. He had to keep going. He had to keep Kamille safe. Someone had once said that he could not save everyone, but he was going to try. He was going to always try over and over. One hand reached out, grasping for the hangar door as he forced himself in, seeing three Haros. They were grasping, tugging at Kamille, wires around his neck. 

“Kamille!” He shouted, gun raised and a shot fired. It blew one of the Haros apart, and he surged forwards, jamming his gun at the base of the wires and firing before other Haros reached for him, pulling him away from Kamille, pulling him towards the floor of the hangar. But he kept firing, freeing Kamille. 

“LAUNCH!”

He grasps at the guardrail by the Exia with his free hand, Haro units swarming for him as he pulled his helmet on. He had to get to her, he had to get out. 

There was a loud screeching sound, the sound of metal and machinery and the pull of space. His other hand snapped around the guardrail. Someone was opening the doors, and as blood spurted across the hangar, he forced his feet onto the walkway, Haros being swept away from him. He could hear Kamille shouting over the coms, that he was going to save him. He could see the cockpit of the Zeta, the door slowly starting to close…

But then Kamille recoiled, slamming against the seat, blood splattered on the inside of his helmet. 

“Kamille! KAMILLE!”

He screamed, but no one heard him, a flash of purple in his vision, Tieria’s body turned towards him, one of the Haro units keeping him anchored to the walkway as the air was being sucked out of the room. Setsuna shuddered, forcing himself to move towards the Exia. Cockpit door shut, com lines open, he tore away from the rails, out into open space. There was nowhere to go but away. He needed to get away from what was left of the Ptolemy, to get somewhere safe. The pain was starting to make him hazy. Now that he wasn’t moving, wasn’t running and rushing around, the pain and damage was hitting him. He wasn’t going to make it if he didn’t find help.

“Setsuna F. Seiei, calling the Argama, please come in.”

Static. Silence.

He tries to repeat the message, looking up at his monitors to see - to his horror - what was left of the crew. Corpses twirling through space. Vented from the hangar. His body hitched, and he tried to keep himself from vomiting inside his helmet. He hadn’t been good enough… they were all dead. 

He tried calling out again.

“Argama, please come in.”

There was a flash, and then his entire system went dark. The systems were malfunctioning. The controls were not his own. The console blared ERROR at him. He looked up when the visual arrays came back, now face-to-face with the Seraphim, and staring down her gun. The horrid, double-laugh rang over the coms. He had no control, no matter how he jammed and pulled at the controls, the Exia was unresponsive. 

There was no time. Setsuna flicked over to the emergency channel, pulsing a distress signal across space, and he kicked open the main console, flicking over to the auxiliary power systems. The Exia groaned, but now she moved. He had beaten the trial system… he had to run.

He refused to die here, he refused!

The Seraphim fired, and he dodged. The Exia’s leg was blown off, a pain he felt bursting in his own leg. He gripped the controls so tightly that he only made his own pain worse, agony tearing through him. He saw another shot charging, everything started to spin. Everything was reeling. Another shot hit the Exia, and he was sent spiralling down deeper and deeper. He screamed, he couldn’t stop shouting for Lockon, for Allelujah, for Kamille. It didn’t help, but he did it anyways as the world whirled around him.

But then it all stopped. 

No noise. No lights. No feeling of tumbling down into the dark. Setsuna’s eyes snapped open and he jolted, finding himself inside the Exia’s cockpit, his heart hammering in his chest, his eyes wide and his breathing erratic. He looked around. No injuries. He hadn’t been shot. 

“Setsuna? You blacked out, are you okay?”

His heart stopped, looking up and seeing Tieria standing on the open hatch, looking down at him. The orange Haro flapped right behind his shoulder. 

Setsuna screamed. 

The rest was a blur. Allelujah all-but forcing him down to the medbay. A needle in his arm. Begging to not be sedated. There wasn’t a chance, his world spun as he once again fell into the darkness, lying on the medbay cot. 

He survived… if barely, he survived.


End file.
